They’d never miss The Dance
Longtime fans explain what draws them to Garth Brooks
As Garth Brooks plays nine shows in Edmonton over the span of 10 days, he couldn’t ask for more dedicated fans. Talking to them, you immediately get riled up.
Leanne Heuchert, now a 41-year-old teacher at Norwood Head Start and CDI College, was 16 when she first heard Brooks, initially blown away by The Dance, Friends in Low Places and, soon enough, The River. She knew then, “he’s got something magical in him that he can make people feel such strong emotions.”
Lisa Chouinard of Drayton Valley notes, “I’ve been listening to him since the beginning, on the radio and the bars when I just turned 18 — that’s when No Fences was just out.”
This run, Chouinard will see Brooks play twice. She’s seen him three times before — in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Vegas — a storyteller show, just him and his guitar.
“My husband’s not a huge country fan, but he went to that show and said, ‘Yes, he’s an entertainer.’ ”
Brooks’ Thursday show falls on a big day for Chouinard.
“It’s going to be the best birthday ever — ever, ever!” She’s turning 44, and lists Much Too Young (to Feel This Damn Old) as one of her favourites.
As an early gift, Chouinard’s friend Wendi Nordell of Grande Prairie painted Brooks’ face and his motto “love one another” on a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers for Chouinard to wear.
Nordell notes you’ll also be able to recognize their posse from a distance. “I’m spray-painting us some black shirts. It will spell out ‘GARTH,’ and then the sixth person will have a heart. If you are looking for Lisa, that’s what she will be wearing.”
Elizabeth Hewko fondly remembers the last time Brooks played Edmonton in 1996. “I couldn’t get tickets to his show, but I had tickets to Alanis Morissette. One of my friends had Brooks tickets, so we decided to swap — I went to GB with him and he went to Alanis Morissette with me.
“I definitely got the better end of that deal,” she laughs. “There was guitar smashing, water bottle splashing, and him running around the stage. One of his backup singers actually fell down trying to keep up with him. I became a true fan that day, and have never looked back. Even during his (alter ego) Chris Gaines phase.”
The first of five times Heuchert saw him play was in 1993. “I was in Augustana University (in Camrose) and a bunch of us missed class and drove down and tried to buy tickets off scalpers.”
They weren’t successful, but a police officer asked them to help bust scalpers outside the Coliseum. “We were so nervous that the guy figured out what was going on,” she laughs. “He’s like, ‘You guys are working for the cops!’ and he walked away. But because we tried, the police officer let us in and took us to a standing area and said, ‘Consider yourself here on Garth’s behalf.’
“We got to see our first concert for free.”
Despite the number of shows, Heuchert says she had trouble getting tickets for this run, but deployed a number of tactical strategies. “I had four sites open and I couldn’t get tickets. I had five other people trying for me — they couldn’t get tickets.
“But I have a friend who has the most amazing luck with tickets, so I sent her a message saying, ‘Please, whatever you can get I’ll be forever thankful.”
In the end, Heuchert ended up getting seats at three shows: Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. She’s most excited about the first.
“It’ll be before his voice starts getting raspy. When he does two shows in a night, he keeps the energy up — and I don’t know how he does it — but you can hear his voice starting to go.”
She adds, “He’s funny as hell. Self-deprecating, but so respectful of the gift he’s been given and having all these fans. I’ve seen him tear up because people are singing along with him.”
Her favourite show was in Calgary, playing the Stampede’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2012. “It’s almost a year to the day my father had passed away. The tickets went on sale right around my birthday, so the joke was Dad was shining down on me and sent me the tickets as a birthday present.”
Brooks brought one of his friends, singer-songwriter Steve Wariner, along for the ride, and when he sang Holes in the Floor of Heaven, Heuchert broke down. “That and the fact I was seeing Garth Brooks for the first time in 20 years. I was like, I’m just going to sit down and have a moment and cry my eyes out for five minutes.”
She notes, “By his own admission he’s not the best vocalist in the world. But he really reaches into people and grabs hold of their heart. There are a hundred people who sing better than him, but you just don’t feel the same when you listen to their music.
“He’s got this line, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be George Strait.’ He knows he’s not the best, but he’s doing this ride for as long as he can and having as much fun as he does it.”
Hewko declares, “He can stand on stage all night and talk for all I care. It is just a wonderful experience being in the presence of someone who is literally so genuine and down to earth.”
“It’s nine shows and he could’ve done another two weeks,” Heuchert says, “and it still would’ve sold out.”
He’s funny as hell. Selfdeprecating, but so respectful of the gift he’s been given and having all these fans.